


The Accident

by MsDizzyDahlia



Series: Fem!Sides Super AU [10]
Category: Cartoon Therapy (Web Series), Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: And Lots of It, Angst, Blood and Injury, Car Accidents, Fem!Sides, Gen, Minor Character Death, She gets eight cool new moms, Sorry Not Sorry, Tamsin gets adopted by the end of it, This one is heavy, but you get the point, well technically two moms and six aunts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:08:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28052181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsDizzyDahlia/pseuds/MsDizzyDahlia
Summary: Tamsin's family gets caught in a super villain attack. It doesn't go well
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Thomas Sanders
Series: Fem!Sides Super AU [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907026
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	The Accident

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Blood, injury, minor character death, car accidents, broken glass, and a truckload of angst

Tamsin bobbed her head along to the music coming from the car radio, humming softly under her breath as her father happily sang along to the chorus. She fiddled with the zipper of her windbreaker, as it was a bit chilly for a mid-spring day, and pulled her hood up. Today was her mother’s birthday, and they were going somewhere special to eat lunch and spend the afternoon. Tamsin didn’t know where though, because it was supposed to be a surprise, and she was terrible at keeping secrets from her mom.

She looked out the window, watching as they passed the other cars and the landscape surrounding them. They were heading towards the edge of the city, she realized. She could see the bridge that they crossed whenever they visited family in other states coming up. Wherever they were headed, it sure was far from where they lived. They had to have been driving for an hour now! They rarely ever left the city, this must truly be something special.

“When are we going to get there?” Tamsin asked, half whining as she wiggled around in her booster seat. She didn’t particularly like sitting still for very long, and she was getting impatient.

Her father laughed and glanced back at her. “Patience, Tammy. We’ll get there when we get there. It shouldn’t be too much longer now, but traffic can be unpredictable. I didn’t think it would be so busy today.”

Tamsin pouted and folded her arms across her chest. She heard her mother chuckling softly and saw her shaking her head, a fond expression on her face. After that, her parents went back to talking with one another, mostly about the new hero that had been all over the news for the last who knows how many months. The one with purple hair who always had dark makeup under her eyes. Tamsin wasn’t sure why people were still getting used to her after six months. They had gotten used to the other heroes in the city pretty quickly. Why was this one different?

Whatever the reason, the new hero seemed to kick up a lot of fuss. Tamsin thought that she looked really cool, and hoped that maybe one day she’d get to meet her in person. She met another hero in person once, the one who could control emotions and always wore pastel colors. She was really nice.

She stopped listening to her parents’ conversation as they started talking about the law and “politics” and stuff she didn’t even want to try to understand, instead looking at the bouquet her father had gotten her mom. It was sitting on the dashboard, and was comprised entirely of daisies, mostly white with a few yellow mixed in, and relatively small. Her mom had never been fond of those really big and over the top ones. She liked the smaller gestures, they felt more intimate. Not that Tamsin was entirely sure of what intimate meant, but she assumed that it was a good thing.

Their car ran over a bump as they crossed onto the bride, and Tamsin jumped in her seat, causing her parents to laugh.

“You doing alright back there, Tammy?” Her father asked, looking in the rearview mirror. Tamsin blushed and nodded, muttering an apology. “It’s alright, sweetie. You still have your seatbelt on, don’t you? You didn’t try to take it off again?”

“Oh stop it sweetie, our Tamsin knows better than that.” Her mother lightly tapped her father on the shoulder. “That was one time, and she’s learned her lesson, right?” Her mother looked over at Tamsin with a meaningful look on her face.

Tamsin nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I still have my seatbelt on Mom.” She tugged on it a few times to demonstrate.

“Good.” Her mother’s face melted into a gentle smile. Tamsin really liked her mother’s smile. People often told her that hers was just like her mom’s, and she wore that fact proudly. Most of her features belonged to her father, people said she had his eyes, or that her hair was the same color as his. Some people said she also had the same facial shape, but she really didn’t know what they meant by that. But her smile, that was all her mother, and she loved it.

She went back to looking out the window, rocking back and forth in her seat. Soon enough, the impatient feeling returned, though it had only been a few minutes.

Suddenly, the water on either side of the bridge swelled over the sides in a giant wave, sweeping many cars towards the edge. Thankfully, it didn’t seem as though any of them had gone over, but Tamsin recognized what this was immediately. She was old enough to know by now. This was a supervillain attack.

Several cars in front of them swerved, trying to avoid the damage. Tamsin’s father jerked the steering wheel, causing them to swerve as well. The water on the bridge made it difficult to brake, but they managed to slow down and eventually stop without hitting anyone. Most of the cars on the bridge or coming up on the bridge seemed to be slowing down as well, though there were a few that seemed to have lost complete control.

“Tamsin are you okay?” Her father shouted above the roaring from the water outside. He undid his seat buckle and twisted around to try and see her. Tamsin’s breathing was heavy, and she felt like her eyes couldn’t get any wider. She was shocked, barely able to move, and trying her best to stay calm.

“I-I’m okay, Dad.” She said, her voice small and barely audible. Looking out her window, she could see the villain who attacked them rising up in a column of water, surveying the damage they had caused. They were scary, with a crazed look in their eyes, and they seemed to be laughing about something. Oh no, didn’t her dad always say the unhinged villains were the most dangerous? That they were only there to cause chaos and had no real goal in mind? She started chewing on her thumbnail.

Her father breathed a sigh of relief, somewhat bringing her back to the present. “Good. Alright, pumpkin, here’s what you need to do. Keep your seatbelt buckled and-”

“ _ Ethan look out! _ ” Her mother screamed. Tamsin turned her head to see what her mother was talking about, just in time to see an out of control car careening towards them.

Their car was t-boned, and Tamsin physically felt the impact, even though she wasn’t sitting on the side that got hit. She instinctively covered her head and curled up into a ball, hearing glass shatter and feeling several pieces of what was probably the window hitting the material of her windbreaker. Thankfully, most of them bounced off, and she ducked down, trying to make herself as small as possible.

She heard her mother scream, and covered her ears, trying to block out the noise. Water splashed into the car, soaking her pants and exposed skin. At some point, she heard sirens, and the sounds of a fight, but she didn’t move from her position. She was too scared, her ears were ringing, and she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to crawl up to the front seat and sit with her parents, who would surely protect her, but she was still hunched over, just trying to block out everything that was going on outside.

Eventually, the sounds of fighting stopped. The rushing of water slowed and eventually came to a stop, and without it the bridge felt eerily silent. Tamsin sat up, feeling tiny glass shards roll off her back as she did so, and looked out to see the villain now in handcuffs, as well as blue and red lights flashing everywhere.

“Dad? Is it over?” Her dad didn’t answer. Tamsin looked back at the front of the car and saw both of her parents slumped in their seats, her mother leaned on the dash with a gash in the left side of her head. Her head was resting on the bouquet of flowers her father had gotten her, blood spilling all over the beautiful daisies. 

“...Dad?” She asked, her voice small. Were they okay? “Mom?” Neither of them responded. Tamsin looked down at the buckle for her seatbelt and pressed it, half expecting it to be jammed. Instead it clicked open easily, and she jumped out of her seat, maneuvering herself up to the front.

“Dad?” She said again, shaking him. He looked awful, there were cuts all over his face, and a big piece or two of glass lodged into his head. “Mom?” When her dad didn’t wake up after her shaking, which had quickly turned almost violent, she turned to her mom and started shaking her instead, hoping against hope that she was just asleep.

“Please wake up, this isn’t funny!” She cried, her vision blurring a bit. “Dad! Mom! Wake  _ up! _ ” She tried everything. She screamed in their ears, shook them so hard there was no way they would be able to stay asleep. But they still didn’t wake up. Finally, she sat back in her own seat once more. They weren’t waking up, and she didn’t know what to do.

She decided that staying in the car probably wasn’t the best idea, in the past when something glass broke, her parents had told her to stay away from it. She needed to get away from here.

She pushed open the door on her side, the side that hadn’t been hit by the other car, and stepped out, not bothering to close it behind her. She was lucky, she didn’t seem to have gotten any injuries, aside from a few cuts on her hands. She looked out around her, at the chaos surrounding the scene. Ambulances were arriving now, getting people out of their cars as paramedics rushed around, checking to make sure everyone that was still awake was okay.

Tamsin suddenly felt panic spike in her chest. She didn’t like talking to strangers, she always froze up. Normally she would hide behind her parents or her babysitter, but she didn’t have anyone to hide behind this time. She didn’t want them to see her. She ran behind another car on the side of the bridge, and hunched over, trying not to cry. She was a big girl, she shouldn’t cry! She should be strong like her mom and dad. 

But still, the tears came, and she knew that there was nothing she could do to stop them. She sobbed as quietly as she could, hoping no one would hear her. She didn’t want to face anyone right now. Her hands hurt, and they were bleeding, getting blood all over her nice outfit. Why were such small cuts bleeding so much? 

She knew, distantly, that she should probably get some help. Both for herself and her parents. But the thought of facing anyone right now just felt too much for her. They would ask her questions, and she would have to answer them, but would she even be able to? Would she be able to open her mouth and actually speak?

So she cried. She cried and cried and cried and hoped to god that someone would find her parents and save them. Hoped despite knowing that it was improbable that they weren’t… gone. That they weren’t going to leave her by herself.

“Hey, kid.” Tamsin jerked her head up at the new voice. Standing over her was the tall new hero, the one with purple hair and the black bags under their eyes. She was wearing the purple jacket she was often seen in, as well as a suit that seemed tailored specifically for her. Great. Now she actually had to talk to someone.

“Are you okay?” The new hero knelt down so that she was eye level with Tamsin. Tamsin didn’t meet her eyes, didn’t know what would happen if she did. “Kid, can you hear me?” The hero snapped her fingers a couple times, and slowly, Tamsin lifted her head to peer into the hero’s gray eyes. “Are you okay? Where are your parents?” 

Tamsin felt her face drain what little color she had left at the mention of her parents. She opened her mouth to speak, but the words stuck in her throat. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do? Normally her mom handled the talking. 

After a few moments of trying and failing to say something, she gave up on verbal communication. Shakily, she lifted her hand, and pointed at the car, where her door was still open, and her parents were still sitting, slumped over and peacefully asleep. They hadn’t been moved yet. The hero followed her hand, and Tamsin watched her eyes widen.

“Th-they’re…” Tamsin started, trying to figure out what to say. “They fell asleep.” She said, feeling her eyes water, and a few more tears started rolling down her face. “But… I don’t think that they’re going to wake up.”

The hero’s face softened, and she brushed a piece of Tamsin’s hair out of her face. Tamsin flinched at the touch, even though it was soft and gentle. The hero quickly lowered her hand.

“I’m sorry kid. That must be rough for you, huh?” She said, understanding shining brightly in her eyes. Tamsin nodded, and swallowed. The hero awkwardly opened her arms, a silent invitation, and Tamsin hesitated, trying to calm herself down for a few seconds, before folding herself into her embrace. 

“I’m really sorry, kid.” The hero said, her voice quiet. “I lost my parents too. It’s a hard loss to bear, but it’ll be okay. Maybe not right now but… it will be okay.” She pulled back. “Why don’t I take you to the others? We can do something about your injuries, and then we’ll figure out where to go from there, okay? What’s your name?”

Tamsin sniffed, but she did smile a little bit. This hero was kind. Kinder than everyone else thought she was. “I’m Tamsin.”

The hero smiled. “Very nice to meet you, Tamsin. You can call me Virgo.”

~~~~~~~

“Well we can’t just get rid of her!” Virgo argued, crossing her arms over her chest and huffing.

“I never said we should get rid of her. I merely suggested that we might not be ready for the responsibility of a child in this household.” Lola responded calmly. “I would not be opposed to it if you are all sure that we can handle her, but I am concerned that we may not be able to provide her the attention she needs.”

“Well the only other options we have are to send her to her grandparents who hate her, or to the orphanage, and neither of those are exactly ideal.” Virgo said, rubbing the bridge of her nose. It had been a week since she had found Tamsin behind a car in the aftermath of a supervillain attack. She had taken her back to the others, and explained the situation with her parents. The others had agreed to allow her to stay with them while they figured something else out.

Their first choice was to find some of her other family, but her father’s parents were both dead and he had no siblings, and her mother’s side of the family had cut all ties with her for one reason or another.

Sending Tamsin to the orphanage didn’t sit right with any of them, especially Virgo, as in the short time she had been here, Tamsin had seemed to latch onto her like a lifeline. She still wasn’t entirely sure why, but the others all found it absolutely adorable.

“You know…” Emily spoke up. “We’ve been meaning to tell you guys, but Renae and I have actually considered having children. I’m also technically licensed to be a therapist. I got my license before the hero thing became a full-time job.” 

Renae nodded. “Emmy and I have been discussing it for a long time, babes. If y’all aren’t against it, then I say we keep the little thing. She certainly hasn’t done any damage while she’s been here.” The others nodded in agreement.

“Then if we’re all in agreement, I’ll talk to her later. We should still give her the choice though. All in all, this is her future we’re talking about. Adopting her into a family of superheroes might put a target on her back. And I remember, I met her once before. Her parents were the sweetest people, it’s such a shame that they went out the way they did.” Emily said, looking around. No one objected.

“I think we’re more than capable of protecting her. She’s seven, it’s not like she’s going to be wandering the city by herself. We’ll keep her safe.” Ramona cut in. Virgo smiled to herself. Normally she wasn’t very good with kids, but Tamsin seemed to like her for whatever reason.

“What are you guys talking about?” A small voice came from the door to the living room. They all looked over to see Tamsin peeking in through the doorway.

“Nothing sweetheart.” Emily said, a warm smile on her face. “Did you need something?”

Tamsin shook her head. “I wanted to watch cartoons.” She explained, coming inside. She was still a little shy around all of them, but she was coming out of her shell, bit by bit.

“Okay sweetie. Do you know where the remote is?” Emily asked her gently. Tamsin nodded and walked over to the coffee table and picked up the tv remote, before walking over to Virgo and crawling into her lap. 

“Uh…” Virgo said, staring down at the tiny child. The others were all looking at her with expressions ranging from smug to soft, and she felt her face burning. “Whatcha doing, kid?”

“I wanna watch cartoons with you.” Tamsin said, smiling. Then her smile dropped, and she looked thoughtful for a second. “Is that okay?”

Virgo just swallowed. “Y-yeah, it’s okay baby.” Where did that come from? Tamsin giggled a bit, and turned on the TV. The others slowly left the room, except for her girlfriends, who snuggled up beside her to watch cartoons as well.

Welp. Guess she was an older sister now.

**Author's Note:**

> :)
> 
> Next up: High school chapter, Lola finds out about Janice's boyfriend


End file.
